Alabama freshmen step up in softball win

Reagan Dykes hits a home run to right-center field during the Crimson Tide's game with Alcorn State in Rhoads Stadium on Tuesday. Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.Every senior on the University of Alabama softball team gets her own day during her final season, but Tuesday night was freshman night at Rhoads Stadium.

Catcher Reagan Dykes hit two home runs, pitcher Madi Moore pitched a three-hit shutout and outfielder Merris Schroder singled in a pair of runs in a rookie showcase that powered the sixth-ranked Crimson Tide to an 8-0 mercy-rule victory over Alcorn State.

"I just got up there with confidence and stuck to the basics and did what I was taught to do all these years," said Dykes, a Collins,…